NAM General Support

[rsc204 21,808]

On 12/06/2020 at 2:46 AM, jeffryfisher said:

Please tell me that the NAM 37 installer will allow me to keep my personalized slope mod.

No, these settings are included as part of RRW and unless a specific option for this as a separate file is added to the installer, you'll have to do some fiddling after installing NAM. Honestly, I think the real problem (for us), how do we explain in layman's terms this whole thing in a couple lines of text in the installer? There is a need to keep the NAM and its installer user friendly, sometimes this means including certain settings as standard.

If your slope mod loads after NAM, then the NAM settings will be replaced by your custom mod. But, as I mentioned before, it's best not to have conflicting versions of these Exemplars, so I recommend you find the one included in the RRW files and simply delete it. Just knowing this must be done for each subsequent install of NAM.

[junspud 1,066]

Just noticed this, does this happen because it's a glitch or just not supported, or possibly a conflict?

Also those circled textures disappear instead of reverting to maxis rail, never seen it happen before.

[Tyberius06 12,189]

1 hour ago, junspud said:

Just noticed this, does this happen because it's a glitch or just not supported, or possibly a conflict?

Also those circled textures disappear instead of reverting to maxis rail, never seen it happen before.

Yepp, this is not supported. Too comapct. Move the switches 1 tile away and you can make the "triangle". I'm not sure, but that might be a code related stuff. Those are "reserved" tiles, or something like that. These really compact and unrealistics set-ups are highly not supported with RRW.

1. 

2. Smooter version

- Tyberius

[Eggman121 1,035]

2 hours ago, junspud said:

Just noticed this, does this happen because it's a glitch or just not supported, or possibly a conflict?

Also those circled textures disappear instead of reverting to maxis rail, never seen it happen before.

Fixing it now. Should be fixed for full Release.

eggman121 (NAM Team Member)

 

[RLope 14]

In making a LV1 RHW, vast swathes of my highway are white where the tarmac should be. What's the reason for this and what's the fix? 

[junspud 1,066]

I've avoided using the RRW reskins because I really like the original RRW textures for rural/industrial type areas, but I came across this new piece, it's going to be possible to use a reskin and the original RRW textures at the same time or do I misunderstand?

 

Thanks.

[Eggman121 1,035]

14 minutes ago, junspud said:

I've avoided using the RRW reskins because I really like the original RRW textures for rural/industrial type areas, but I came across this new piece, it's going to be possible to use a reskin and the original RRW textures at the same time or do I misunderstand?

 

Thanks.

Hi @junspud

Indeed this piece is to transition between the reskin and default textures when the reskin sets get uploaded post NAM 37. This is because not all sets of lot textures have been converted to the reskin and allow the use of the reskin and default textures in a seemless manner.

- eggman121 (NAM team member)

 

[Wiimeiser 444]

So like the Depot Stations? Are those the lots you mean?

 

A little off-topic, but on the subject of rail, lately I've been thinking we need narrow gauge railways, if only as a series of decorative lots for creating tourist railways like the Puffing Billy...

[junspud 1,066]

On 6/29/2020 at 4:54 PM, Eggman121 said:

Hi @junspud

Indeed this piece is to transition between the reskin and default textures when the reskin sets get uploaded post NAM 37. This is because not all sets of lot textures have been converted to the reskin and allow the use of the reskin and default textures in a seemless manner.

- eggman121 (NAM team member)

 

That's cool, I look forward to that, even if the reason for doing it is a work-around.

Are there any plans to integrate SAM with NWM, so that SAM streets can smoothly cross from NWM networks?

[Tarkus 6,932]

3 hours ago, junspud said:

Are there any plans to integrate SAM with NWM, so that SAM streets can smoothly cross from NWM networks?

SAM x NWM support has been on the list for years, but it may still be some time before it happens.  There's a lot of textures involved, and not the easiest ones to make.  The SAM and  HSRP (which is potentially going to become deprecated) are generally pretty lacking in the crosslink department across the board.  There's even some Maxis networks that can't interface with SAM at present.

-Tarkus

[rsc204 21,808]

On 03/07/2020 at 10:42 PM, junspud said:

Are there any plans to integrate SAM with NWM, so that SAM streets can smoothly cross from NWM networks?

I don't see this as a priority personally, you can always make a road transition before intersections, which serves as a decent work-around.

One issue with SAM is retaining a balance of support vs ballooning each set, since with 16 in total, the amount of code/files easily gets very large. As such, I prefer to fill in those gaps in support, where the most benefit can be added. To give you an example, after I started using street WRCs extensively, I simply didn't use SAM very much. For this reason, I was so pleased @Eggman121 added support in NAM 36. But I use the following two pieces quite extensively:

That's support for Diagonal connections on SAM roundabouts and the Cull de Sac roundabout, unlike the regular streets, I've just reused the regular roundabout curves to connect it. As I'm sure the screenshot illustrates, I'll be adding these extra pieces in a future version of NAM for all SAM sets. But when it comes to making SAM more usable, the addition of El-Rail, Monorail and GLR support is for me my current biggest problem. I have code to support all three to cross in all Ortho/Diag permutations. It's mostly ready except I've one or two stability issues to resolve. That said, with RL and my other projects, it may be a while before I can resume working on this project.

[thecitiescenter 3,045]

Are the legacy automatic avenue turn lanes in NAM37 supposed to come in RHD and LHD?  Or just RHD?

 I only get RHD even if I install the LHD options in the installer.

[Wiimeiser 444]

Not sure. I've dropped them starting this version anyway, though.

[junspud 1,066]

Was wondering if this is unsupported curve?

[deanva 70]

I have had that problem also in some of my roads, I just redid that section. Mine at a turn in my ground highway and maybe a couple of others.

[junspud 1,066]

On 7/12/2020 at 6:48 PM, deanva said:

I have had that problem also in some of my roads, I just redid that section. Mine at a turn in my ground highway and maybe a couple of others.

Yeah I think it must just be unsupported, kinda threw me off the way it works so I was unsure if it was my particular installation.

I know a ask a ton of questions here but I just can't help it lol. I do have another question if anyone is interested.

I coulda sworn these crossings used to be entirely cement? The rail crossings with SAM 10 have started showing grass on my game now as seen in the picture, is there a way to replace it with cement? I've tried changing some load orders around and making sure I had certain plugins installed but no matter what I do I keep getting the grass. I'm pretty sure it used to be entirely cement so I'm not sure what's going wrong.. Thanks.

[rsc204 21,808]

2 hours ago, junspud said:

I coulda sworn these crossings used to be entirely cement?

I honestly don't even know where these crossings came from, but had noticed them when looking through the new NAM files. Indeed, they should have concrete bases, just like the rest of the mod. Likewise SAM10 crossings shouldn't have grass upon them by default.

I'll try to make sure it's fixed in the next release, in the meantime you can use one of the attached patches as a work-around. Load them after the Network Addon Mod folder to be sure they work properly.

SAM - 11 - IndustrieSAM Textures_US RRW.dat

SAM - 11 - IndustrieSAM Textures_EU RRW.dat

[Tyberius06 12,189]

2 hours ago, junspud said:

Yeah I think it must just be unsupported, kinda threw me off the way it works so I was unsure if it was my particular installation.

I know a ask a ton of questions here but I just can't help it lol. I do have another question if anyone is interested.

I coulda sworn these crossings used to be entirely cement? The rail crossings with SAM 10 have started showing grass on my game now as seen in the picture, is there a way to replace it with cement? I've tried changing some load orders around and making sure I had certain plugins installed but no matter what I do I keep getting the grass. I'm pretty sure it used to be entirely cement so I'm not sure what's going wrong.. Thanks.

I ping @Eggman121 (who made most part of the RRW) and @rsc204 (who created the SAM 11 industrial SAM) here. I can not be sure. I barelly played properly with NAM 36, although I can not recall grass in the industrial SAM-RRW crossings either. So I'm not sure, but there were massive changes in the RRW during the NAM 37 dev cycle, the full separation from the Maxis Rail was a real pain, the structure of the RRW changed so many times. I can imagine, that the SAM 11 originally had the concrate based crossings (I know that network is special in a way how it handles the sidewalk textures), then during the latest RRW development it got a default grass based texture instead of its original special concrate base. 

- Tyberius

[junspud 1,066]

Just now, rsc204 said:

I honestly don't even know where these crossings came from, but had noticed them when looking through the new NAM files. Indeed, they should have concrete bases, just like the rest of the mod. Likewise SAM10 crossings shouldn't have grass upon them by default.

I'll try to make sure it's fixed in the next release, in the meantime you can use on of the attached patches as a work-around. Load them after the Network Addon Mod folder to be sure they work properly.

SAM - 11 - IndustrieSAM Textures_US RRW.dat

SAM - 11 - IndustrieSAM Textures_EU RRW.dat

Thanks a lot for this.

[John doe29 4]

Ever since installing NAM, SimCity 4 crashes everytime I try to load a city.

[Missecho 99]

Hi I am new to SimCity

Purchased and downloaded it from Steam and from the few videos I have been watching they all recommend NAM. 

I downloaded it NAM 37, followed the install instructions and it puts a folder into:

My Documents/SimCity4/Plugins/Network Addon Mod

but when i load and start the game in Steam it goes to the region, when I click on the city it starts to go into it but just gives me the hourglass (waiting) hangs for about a minute then crashes the steam client.  If I remove the folder from the plugins it starts just fine.

I am a technical moron so really have no idea how to fix it. 

Wanted to ask in discord chat but apparently I have to post to the forum before I can do that.   Getting seriously frustrated so any help would be appreciated.

Cheers MissE

[Tarkus 6,932]

First off, @Missecho, welcome to SC4 and to Simtropolis!  To answer your question, the reason your game is crashing with NAM 37 is because it sounds like you may not have applied the 4GB patch to the game before running it with the NAM in your Plugins.  This is covered in the 0-read-first-nam37.html file included in the NAM download, but I'll cover it here in a bit more detail as well.

On Windows, NAM 37 requires that the game be patched with a "4GB patch" to be Large Address Aware (LAA), meaning that it can access 4GB RAM instead of a mere 2GB.  Without being patched, the game will crash.  The installation package includes the NTCore 4GB Patch--the patch file is named 4gb_patch.exe.  Open this file, point it to the SimCity 4.exe file in the game's installation directory, and click "Open".  You should then get a window with an "Executable successfully patched!" message.  Click the "OK" button.  Your game is now successfully patched to be Large Address Aware, and you can run NAM 37 without issue.

For reference, the Steam version of the game is installed by default to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\Common\SimCity 4 Deluxe\Apps.

Hope that helps!

-Tarkus

 

 

[Missecho 99]

Hi again.

I thought I had already patched it with the 4gb_patch.exe.  I downloaded that yesterday and ran it by double clicking the application file, saying 'yes' to allowing it to make modification.  Didn't notice it had come contained in the NAM download :).  This time, following your reply,  I have put it in this place and double clicked it, again it said it was executed successfully but the client still crashes when I try to run it.

If i double click the 4gb_patch.exe in the extracted download folder I get the prompt to allow modifications and then it just gets a file manager page opening containing the  4gb patch app and the 4gb backup file in it so doesn't do anything.

I am not sure what you mean by " point it to the SimCity 4.exe file in the game's installation directory, and click "Open"  ............ As when I run it there is no prompt for me to direct it anywhere. So I had to copy and paste the patch application file to the above directory so that it would patch there when I ran it.   Is what I did up there (ie copying/pasting the 4gb_patch.exe file into that directory and running it correct? If so the steam client still crashes to desktop when I try to enter a city.

What folder is the Network Addon Mod supposed to end up in?  Just for my info?  It was ending up in the My Documents/SimCity4/Plugins/Network Addon Mod when I ran the jar file as shown so is this the correct place?: 

 

Sorry for the hassle but I really want to run this thing. 

Cheers MissE

 

 

 

[Missecho 99]

I don't think I am extracting or patching it properly you may need to give me a step by step on how to get that patch to the right place Sorry for being so dumb.

MissE

[Tarkus 6,932]

Hi @John doe29-

If the game is crashing with NAM 37, it's a sign you haven't patched your game using the 4GB patch.  As noted in the 0-read-first-nam37.html file, containing all the startup instructions, the game needs to be patched with that file (4gb_patch.exe) first, or else the game will crash.  In order to install that patch:

Why is my game crashing to desktop with NAM 37 in the Plugins folder?

On Windows, NAM 37 requires that the game be patched with a "4GB patch" to be Large Address Aware (LAA), meaning that it can access 4GB RAM instead of a mere 2GB.  Without being patched, the game will crash.  The installation package includes the NTCore 4GB Patch--the patch file is named 4gb_patch.exe.  Open this file, point it to the SimCity 4.exe file in the game's installation directory, and click "Open".  You should then get a window with an "Executable successfully patched!" message.  Click the "OK" button.  Your game is now successfully patched to be Large Address Aware, and you can run NAM 37 without issue.

For reference, these are the default locations of the SimCity 4.exe file in the available and compatible versions of the game:

GOG: C:\GOG Games\SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition\Apps

Steam: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\Common\SimCity 4 Deluxe\Apps

Disc: C:\Program Files (x86)\Maxis\SimCity 4 Deluxe\Apps

(Origin: C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition\Apps--note that copies purchased from the Origin Store are not supported, due to being unpatched and unpatchable.  Ask for a refund.  If your copy was obtained by redeeming a CD Key with Origin support, it is patched.  Check the version number on the executable if you remain unsure.  1.1.641 = fully patched, 1.1.610 = unpatched, unpatchable, and incompatible.)

On macOS, the game is now 64-bit, so it has access to 128GB RAM (theoretically more, though this is the limit in macOS 10.9 and later), and is ready to use NAM 37 out of the box.

While all NAM versions over the past 6+ years have incorporated a routine to apply the 4GB patch, do not assume you automatically have already applied it and are ready to use NAM 37 out of the gate.  If you've changed from disc to digital in the time since NAM 36 was released, or have swapped to a different digital edition, the edition you are now using will need patching.

-Tarkus

[rsc204 21,808]

4 hours ago, Missecho said:

I don't think I am extracting or patching it properly you may need to give me a step by step on how to get that patch to the right place Sorry for being so dumb.

The patch application is generic, it can work for any Windows Application. When you run it, it should be asking you which application you want to patch, you need to find where the main application is for SimCity 4 and select it.

5 hours ago, Missecho said:

and then it just gets a file manager page opening containing the  4gb patch app and the 4gb backup file in it so doesn't do anything.

This is because by default, it will show those files (i.e. the contents of the folder), in the location where it resides. By moving the patch to the same folder as your SC4 installation, as in your screenshot, now the default folder will be the one which included SimCity 4.exe, the file we need to patch.

So again, you run the 4gb_Patch file located as per this screenshot:

Then you should see a window similar to the following:

Select SimCity 4 and press "Open". If it was actually successful, it would create a backup of the old file, SimCity 4.exe.Backup, which you can see in my screenshot. This makes me think, regardless of what you are being told, the patch process did NOT work.

The most sure-fire way to avoid problems is to restart your computer. When it's finished, before you do anything else, run the 4gb_patch. Instead of double-clicking it, right click and select "Run as Administrator". You need permission to make the change (in Windows), which the Run as Admin command does (if your default logon doesn't). Sometimes an App will appear to be closed, but in actual fact some part of it is still running, which would prevent modifying it, which doing this after a clean restart avoids.

[Missecho 99]

@Tarkus

@rsc204

 

Thanks It finally worked. I think the problem was I needed to restart the computer after applying the patch and putting the NAM folder in the my documents plugin folder.   Even though the patch worked and I had the backup file in the correct folder the game still crashed when I just put the mod into the plugin.  So I went through the whole process again but before starting to run the game via steam did a whole restart again. When I then opened steam it did an update there too.  Took a good while to actually log into the city but it did and the mod was there   Second time I logged into the city it was much quicker.  Now all I need to do is figure out where and how to run the settings in NAM .  Any link to any web tutorial would be great! 

Thanks again. 

*ps, I am too old for this crap lol   58 yr old Aussie chicks should be knitting or doing other sensible stuff...........  lmao, have a drink on me!. 

[rsc204 21,808]

3 hours ago, Missecho said:

Now all I need to do is figure out where and how to run the settings in NAM .

Sorry, but I don't understand what settings you are referring too? There are many options presented as part of the Install process, I guess you could call these settings. But other than that, having selected those features you wish to use, everything is just configured for you and the new content should be in-game.

There is a separate part called the TSCT (Traffic Simulator Configuration Tool), here you can edit some advanced parts of the game, such as how fast networks are and their capacities. Frankly though, this is really only for the control freaks as much as anything, for example I've never used this myself.

I'm happy you finally managed to get through it all. I did say we wouldn't be making a tutorial video for installing NAM 37. However, in light of the sheer number of users struggling, I reneged on that and have spent the evening (night), doing exactly that. I hope it will make things clearer for others experiencing similar difficulties.

[Missecho 99]

@rsc204 LOL I am not sure either, was watching a series of videos by Rob's Red Hot Spot and he had this thing which he opened which I thought let you control traffic congestion which I am finding to be the biggest pita but maybe it was something else although the mod you mentioned ( (Traffic Simulator Configuration Tool) sound like it could be what he had.  I will need to find which episode it was in and take better notice.  

Thanks MissE

[KBH-IZ 0]

(I can't speak English very well)

Hello. I want NAM 36 installer because some graphics example as STR is glitched or invisible and i want texture options. Unfortunatly, I don't have it in HDD. Is it possible?